Boston's Finest
by bethchilds34
Summary: Jane died and her daughter has been left in Maura's care. Today would have been Jane's birthday.


**Author's Note: Hi guys! So I know this isn't an update for Missing Pieces or any of my other unfinished fics, but it's what flowed out of me and when the muse calls, you must answer. I've been going through some things recently and as a writer, this is how I get out what I'm feeling.**

**This was hard to write for several reasons. This biggest one being that Rizzoli & Isles wouldn't be the same or work without both Angie and Sasha and trying to imagine it any other way hurts. Another reason is that I have younger siblings that are like my own children and I can't imagine not being there for them or what I would do without them. Also writing character deaths is inherently not fun or easy. So yeah. Not an easy one to write.**

**I've read one or two others like this even though it pains me to do so, and, though I hate the idea in reality, I wanted to try my hand at it in AU.**

**Also, I'm a few episodes behind on the show so I don't know what's currently going on (I really need to catch up. I work too much). But I hope this isn't too far off from canon. Please let me know what you think! Sorry for the rambling A/N here. Just had some things I had to say. Also all of the mistakes in here are my own as I have no beta.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rizzoli & Isles. Also, I do not know exactly when Jane's birthday is so I made it up. Only Lily belongs to me.**

O.o.O

They came back every year to law flowers at the spot. Just Maura and Lily. They went on Jane's birthday, not her death day.

It was always a bright and sunny day in early May, which contradicted their moods. Jane should have been 42 today. Her daughter and Maura should have woken her up with breakfast in bed. Pancakes. Her favorite.

But instead, Maura and Lily woke up early and had pancakes without her. Lily just pushed them around her plate while Maura stared at hers, not knowing how to eat. Even though Lily had requested them, in honor of Jane, she was only picking at them.

"Auntie Maura?" Lily broke the silence that had settled over them.

"Yes, sweetie?" Maura asked. She looked across the table at Lily and it still shocked her how much she resembled Jane. Lily had Jane's dark, unruly hair, soft brown eyes, and had definitely inherited her height. But Lily was softer than Jane had been. Jane had been all angles and hard lines. Unbreakable. But Lily was more fragile.

"Are we leaving soon?" Lily asked.

"Whenever you want, we can go, Munchkin," Maura told her.

"Can I be finished? I'm not that hungry."

Any other day, Maura would have coaxed the girl to eat more. But today was not any other day. "Of course."

Lily brought her plate to the sink and then went upstairs to get dressed. She'd always had a room at Maura's house, since before she'd even been born. She and Jane had always been welcome at Maura's house.

_It was the only smooth transition that had been made almost two years previously when Jane had died. Lily already had a room and some of her things at Maura's. She hadn't been thrust into an entirely new place._

_Angela and Maura hadn't spoken for several months after Jane had died. Angela had felt as though she should be the one to take Lily and Maura had fought her. Jane had asked __**her**__ to take care of her daughter. __**Maura**__ was supposed to take care of Lily should anything happen to Jane. And something had happened and Maura would be damned if she didn't do what she had promised her best friend. _

_Frankie had been stuck in the middle of all of this. Jane had made him promise to do whatever it took to make sure Lily was put into Maura's care. It wasn't that she didn't trust her mother, but she truly believed that Maura was more than capable and Maura was almost a second mother to the young girl._

_Angela had been livid that Frankie would turn against her. At her lowest point, she screamed that Maura wasn't family and Lily should be living with family._

_Frankie had lost it then, telling her that Maura had always been family and he considered her a sister and hadn't Angela lived in Maura's guest house for a few years for free and how was she being so short-sighted?_

_They were all hurting and it came out in different ways. Angela's words had stung Maura, but the doctor knew they had been said in anger and that she hadn't truly meant them._

_From day one, Maura had promised that she would never keep Angela or any of the Rizzoli family from Lily and she had never once broken that promise. Even when Angela was refusing to speak to Maura and was using Frankie as a middle man, she was always allowed to see Lily and take her for overnights._

_But thankfully that had only lasted for a few months. One day, Lily had asked Maura why she and Nona didn't like each other anymore and it broke Maura's heart to see the girl so upset. The five year old had just lost her mother and now her Auntie Maura and Nona couldn't get along. Was it her fault? She started crying._

_Maura's heart hurt for the little girl. "Of course it's not your fault, Lily," she promised as she hugged the shaking girl. "Sometimes grown-ups fight, but it's not your fault. We're all hurting and this is sometimes how we show it," she tried to explain._

_Lily had pulled away, looking confused. "You're hurt, Auntie Maura? Where does it hurt? I can kiss it and make it better. Mommy said I give magic kisses," Lily told her._

_Maura started crying now, but she was smiling too. "No," she tried to explain, "Nona and I hurt in our hearts. Your mommy was very special to us and we miss her."_

"_It hurts in my heart, too," the five year old told Maura. "How do we make it better?"_

_Maura pulled Lily in for another hug. "What do you think would make it better?"_

"_Tell me a story?" Lily asked._

"_About your mommy?" Lily nodded. "Okay, how about we get into our PJs and have a sleepover in Auntie Maura's room and watch The Little Mermaid?" It was Lily's favorite movie and she quickly agreed._

_Once they were changed and snuggled on Maura's bed, she told Lily a story about Jane. She had taken Jo Friday for a walk and, as they were passing a house, the sprinkler system had turned on and they got soaked and, by the time they had gotten back to Maura's, all the doctor could do was laugh and help towel off the dripping dog._

_After the story, they settled in to watch The Little Mermaid, both singing along with Part of Your World. Lily had been asleep by the time Poor Unfortunate Souls had come on._

That had been almost two years ago. Maura and Lily had grown closer since Jane had died. Maura had even officially adopted Lily when she was six. She never wanted Lily to feel as though she had no place where she belonged.

Lily came back downstairs as Maura was finishing with putting the breakfast dishes into the dishwasher. The small girl was wearing a purple tee shirt with a white heart drawn on it, a pair of blue jeans, and purple flats. Yes, she was Jane's daughter alright.

"Do you think Mommy will like this?" she asked Maura quietly.

Maura dried her hands and walked over to where Lily was standing in the entrance to the kitchen. "Of course she will, Munchkin," Maura told her, kneeling down so she was on level with Lily.

"You said purple was her favorite, so I thought it would be a good choice," Lily explained. "But I could dress up more, like you, if you think I should."

Even though Maura had never been an affectionate person, once Lily had come into their lives, Maura was as affectionate with the small girl as Jane and Angela were with her. It wasn't forced, it all came naturally to her. Angela had called it maternal instinct, even though Lily was not her own biologically.

Maura gathered Lily into her arms and held her close, trying to quell her fears. "Your Mommy was never big on dressing up. She'd be happy with whatever you decided to wear. If you wanted to dress up, you could. But she would want you to wear what you want," Maura told her.

"Okay. I want to wear this," she said. "Can we go now?"

"Let me just get my purse. Do you want to carry the flowers or should I take them?" Maura asked.

"I'll get them," Lily said quickly, scampering off back into the dining room to get the vase that was filled with the flowers the two had picked out the day before.

Lily was half hidden behind the flowers when she met Maura by the front door as the older woman was putting her second show on. When she finally stood upright, she was a few inches taller than usual, even though she felt small.

The ride to the cemetery was quiet. Maura kept the radio on just loud enough to hear it, though neither was listening. She and Lily had buckled the vase of flowers into the seat beside Lily and the girl kept her hand protectively on the vase just in case it accidentally tipped over.

The cemetery was close to Jane's childhood home, about fifteen minutes from Maura's house. They wound around the now-familiar pathways until they were only a few yards from their destination.

Maura turned off the car. They both knew exactly where they were.

"Do you want to go alone or would you like me to come with you?" she asked, turning around in her seat to look at the small girl in the backseat.

"Can I go alone?" she asked, looking hopefully at Maura.

"Of course you can. I'll wait for you in here. You can have as much time as you want."

Lily nodded her agreement and then got out of the car, carefully taking the vase of flowers with her. Maura watched as she walked over to her mother's grave and gently placed the vase down to the right of the shiny black headstone. Then Lily sat down in front of the stone, cross-legged, elbows on knees, her chin resting on her folded hands.

Maura watched as Lily's mouth began to move. She couldn't hear what the girl was saying, but she was glad nonetheless. When Jane had died, none of them were sure how Lily was going to react, whether she would lash out or become distant or anything in between. Even though she'd only been five and hadn't fully understood, her demeanor had changed a bit. She and Jane had both been very out-going people; the two of them made the perfect team. But when Jane had died, Lily had become more withdrawn and quieter.

For the first two weeks, Lily had asked here her Mommy was and why she wasn't there to sing her to sleep at night and tuck her into bed. Maura and Angela had done their best to explain that Jane had gone to heaven and, even though she was so sad that she couldn't be there in person, she was always watching over Lily.

After a few minutes, Lily walked back over to the car. Maura got out and noticed that Lily had been crying. She didn't say anything, but pulled the girl into a hug.

"Are you okay?" she asked tentatively. Lily nodded. "Okay do you want to wait in the car or come back over with me?"

"I'll wait in the car," Lily told her.

"Okay, I'll just be a few minutes."

Even though Maura knew exactly what awaited her (she had helped make sure the stone was what Jane had wanted) and she had added something of her own, it still made her nervous. The headstone was the ultimate signifier that her best friend was really gone and it hurt her every time she saw it.

And, even though it went againt everything she'd ever learned or been taught, she greeted the stone the same way she always did.

"Hi, Jane," she spoke out loud to the stone that read:

_**Jane C. Rizzoli**_

_Boston's Finest_

_Mother_

_Daugher_

_Friend_

"We really miss you."

**A/N: Please don't be mad at me for ending it like that. It just seemed like the right place. Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!**


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